ACCESSNebraska Customer Service Centers Timeline Announced

Lincoln – The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) today announced that the customer service center in Lincoln envisioned as part of the rollout of ACCESSNebraska will be the first to be completed. This center will have 100 employees and will be located at 340 Victory Lane.

The other three customer service centers will be phased in and begin operating approximately every six months or sooner after the Lincoln site is fully implemented, in this order:

Fremont, 150 employees at 839 South Broad Street

Lexington, 50 employees at 1501 South Plum Circle Parkway

Scottsbluff, 100 employees at 105 Skyport Drive

“We expect the Lincoln location to be ready and training of staff to be complete so that we can begin taking calls this fall,” said Todd Reckling, director of the Division of Children and Family Services. “Getting the Lincoln and Fremont centers up and running will help us transition clients in our two metropolitan areas. Both locations are closer to the technical support team involving DHHS and other state agencies needed to install and test equipment prior to launching this fall.”

The customer service centers are the third phase of an effort to modernize the way economic assistance services are provided in Nebraska. ACCESSNebraska uses online applications, document imaging and customer service centers to provide a more efficient means of processing and approving requests for economic assistance.

When all four Customer Service Centers are complete in 2012, nearly 400 economic assistance staff will work at the centers, with another 250 staff located in local DHHS offices.

ACCESSNebraska is the quick, easy way to find and apply online for Nebraska public assistance benefits. Nebraskans can use the self-screening tool and apply online for many public assistance benefit programs at http://accessnebraska.ne.gov/.

Federal and state public assistance programs include: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); SNAP (formerly known as Food Stamps); Medicaid; Kids Connection; Child Care; Aid to Aged, Blind and Disabled (AABD); and Nebraska Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).